


London's Burning

by SpiritAlpha



Series: Thirteen and Susan [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Companions Meet Companions (Doctor Who), Family Reunions, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Protective Doctor (Doctor Who), Sentient TARDIS, Susan is completely done with the Doctor, Telepathy, Thirteenth Doctor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-10-04 00:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20462210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritAlpha/pseuds/SpiritAlpha
Summary: The Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan follow a distress call to the 23rd century in the aftermath of the Second Great Fire of London and the Doctor finds out that her granddaughter, Susan Foreman, is being blamed for it.





	1. Chapter 1

Susan Campbell ran.

Behind her, she heard the soldiers of Earth United running after her. Around her were smoke and fire. She ducked down behind a wall and took a moment to catch her breath.

After she had been exposed as an alien, life had been hard for her. David and Alex's deaths meant that they weren't being dragged into it, which she was grateful for.

When London had started burning, Earth United had immediately blamed her. Susan had no choice but to run, only defending herself when necessary as she was aware that it wouldn't help her case.

She looked around the corner and saw that the coast was clear then continued to run. She headed towards the riverbank where the TARDIS had first arrived. When she got there, she sat down against the wall underneath the bridge and closed her eyes.

_Grandfather!_ She called out, knowing that he would pick it up. _Help me!_

She opened her eyes and stayed quiet, listening out for soldiers and waiting for the Doctor.

* * *

The TARDIS was being chased through space by a Sontaran fleet that the Doctor had accidentally angered.

She had been alone ever since New Year's Day when Aaron Sinclair had been pulled into the supernova along with the Dalek. Ryan, Graham and Yaz had asked to stay in Sheffield for a while to deal with what had happened. The Doctor had agreed, knowing that she had gone too far, as she always did with a Dalek, and her friends needed time to process things.

So now, she was back to travelling the universe alone; except, of course, for the TARDIS who, knowing that her thief hated travelling alone, had manifested an avatar in the form of Idris to keep the Doctor company.

"Are you incapable of not annoying someone?" Idris asked. She kept her balance as the ship flew around while the Doctor raced around the console.

"It's not my fault I don't want them destroying an entire planet!" The Doctor replied.

"The Sontarans are a ruthless warrior race. Of course they would want to destroy an entire planet!" replied Idris.

The Doctor continued to race around the console, pulling levers and pressing buttons until, finally, they were in the time vortex. The crystal in the centre of the console slowed its movement down and they both took a breath.

"That was fun!" The Doctor exclaimed, grinning.

"I should really be telling you off for annoying the Sontarans, but I enjoyed it too," said Idris, smiling.

_Grandfather! Help me!_

The Doctor and Idris looked at each other in shock at the psychic distress call. It couldn't be...

"Susan?" The Doctor asked, more out of shock than talking to anyone. Her excitement turned to sadness and determination to help her granddaughter.

"You need to go back and see her, Doctor," said Idris. "You haven't done so since the Time War."

"What about Sandshoes' farewell tour?" asked the Doctor.

"That doesn't count," replied Idris. She paused and thought for a moment. "Take Team TARDIS with you."

"Really? Don't you think that that would be a bit weird? 'Hey Ryan, I know that I was responsible for your dad's death but can you come and help me save my granddaughter who I also abandoned'?"

"That's exactly why you should bring them along. Show them that just because you abandoned family, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't love them. Not that I'm excusing Aaron's parenting deficit because that is _not _how you should treat your child."

"It's different, though." said the Doctor. "Ryan didn't have any choice in his dad leaving him. Susan chose to stay with David and I made a choice leaving her there."

"Doctor." Idris put her hands on her hips. "We all know that Susan wouldn't have left you that easily, and if I say that you need to take Graham, Yaz and Ryan with you to the 23rd century then you should do that." The Doctor looked at the console then back at Idris.

"You've already set the coordinates for Sheffield, haven't you?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

* * *

The TARDIS landed in Sheffield but the Doctor didn't exit, unsure of how her friends would be. It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door before it opened.

"Hey, Doc," Graham said, walking in and closing the door behind him. Idris was grateful for that. There were very few people who remembered to close her door.

"Hi, Graham!" The Doctor put on a fake smile but he saw right through it.

"Are you ok, Doc?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"She's not fine," said Idris.

"Who are you?" asked Graham.

"I'm Idris. I'm the avatar of the TARDIS." she explained, smiling and pulling him into a hug. After they had pulled back out of it, Graham looked from her to the Doctor, then at the console, then back at her.

"Ok," he said. He turned back to the Doctor. "So, you came back?" She nodded.

"Something's come up. Idris insisted that I bring the three of you along."

"Ok," he said. "I'll go and get Ryan and Yaz."

"No need," said Idris. "They're almost here." The door opened and Yaz and Ryan walked in. Like Graham, they closed the door behind them. "Yaz! Ryan!" Idris ran over and hugged them.

"Uh...hi?" Ryan asked. Idris pulled back and looked at them with a big smile on her face.

"I'm Idris. I'm the avatar of the TARDIS." Yaz and Ryan stared at her in amazement.

"You're the TARDIS?" Yaz asked. Idris nodded.

"Cool!" They exclaimed in unison, making Idris, Graham and the Doctor smile.

"We figured that you were sentient because, well, you're a spaceship," said Ryan. "Plus, the Doctor always talks to you and about you as if you're alive."

"Because I am alive," Idris replied, before turning back to the console. Yaz and Ryan followed her. "Now that we're all here, let's get a shift on!"

"Why?" asked Yaz. "What's happened?"

"Someone I care about is in trouble." The Doctor said. "I need all of you here so that I...don't go too far."

"Like with the Dalek?" Ryan asked.

"In a different way," she replied.

"Where are we going?" Yaz asked. "Or _when _are we going?"

"London," Idris replied. "The 23rd century."


	2. Chapter 2

The atmosphere in the TARDIS was silent as they travelled through the vortex. The Doctor was preoccupied with the knowledge that her granddaughter was in danger. She knew that Susan was perfectly capable of taking care of herself - one of the excuses that the Doctor told themselves for why they didn't go back and see her - and only called on her grandfather, now grandmother, when she needed it.

This was one of those times.

Graham, Yaz and Ryan had noticed that the Doctor wasn't going to talk to them, so Idris drew their attention by asking them how they'd been. They thankfully dodged the topic of Aaron, something which Graham suspected that Idris was deliberately doing, and instead spoke about the typical mundane everyday tasks that humans did.

* * *

Susan looked up as she heard the familiar groaning of the TARDIS materialising. She stood up as the blue police box started to appear, stumbling towards it as she laughed in relief. She waited until it had fully landed before running in and slamming the door shut, leaning against it with her eyes closed. The familiar hum of the TARDIS comforted her.

"Susan?"

Susan opened her eyes. In front of her was a young woman, slightly taller than her, with short blonde hair and dressed in the most brightly coloured outfit she had ever seen. Well, except for the time when she'd briefly met her grandfather's sixth incarnation in Albert Square.

But she knew the woman in front of her. Susan would always recognise them.

"Grandmother?" she asked. "Is that you?" The woman grinned. 

"Hello, Susan," she said.

"Oh, Grandmother!" Susan exclaimed happily, running towards the Doctor and hugging her.

"Oh, Susan." The Doctor replied, hugging her firmly. The two of them stayed like that for a while before pulling out of the hug, although still holding onto each other.

"You've regenerated again," said Susan, looking at her.

"Yep. What do you think?"

"I love it!" exclaimed Susan. "You've gone young again like on the Death Zone."

"Yes. Since we last saw each other, I went young then naturally old, slightly younger, slightly younger again, very young, very old and back to young again."

"Meanwhile, I'm still on my first face because I'm more sensible than you," said Susan. "So, which number is this? The last time I saw you, you were on your eighth incarnation."

"Fifteenth." said the Doctor.

"_Fifteen_?" Susan asked, shocked. "Grandmother! You didn't use up _all _of your regenerations?"

"Yes, I did. Long story short, the Time Lords gave me a second regeneration cycle. This is the second face of that cycle." she explained. "But I call myself the Thirteenth Doctor."

"But, how...?"

"The Doctor had two incarnations who technically used up regeneration energy, despite neither of them being called 'the Doctor'." Another woman explained.

Susan looked towards the console and saw a woman with wild brunette hair up in a beehive hairstyle and dressed in a light blue Victorian dress with boots.

"Hello," Susan said, tilting her head. The woman seemed familiar. "Do I know you?"

"I'd be offended that you don't know who I am, but it took your grandfather a while to work it out as well," she said. "I'm Idris. I'm the TARDIS." Susan gasped.

"You're the TARDIS?" she asked, in amazement. 

"Yes!" Idris replied, smiling. They laughed and hugged. "Graham, Yaz and Ryan were just as surprised when they met me just now." The Doctor took Susan's hand and pulled her over to the other three people in the console room.

"Susan, meet my new friends, Graham O'Brien, Yasmin Khan and Ryan Sinclair, aka Team TARDIS," said the Doctor. "Graham, Yaz, Ryan, this is my granddaughter, Susan." She looked at her granddaughter. "Are you going by Foreman or Campbell?"

"Campbell," replied Susan. Graham stepped forward, holding out his hand.

"Hello, Susan," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, Graham," she replied, shaking his hand. She waved in greeting to Yaz and Ryan. "Hello, Yaz, Ryan."

"Hi." Yaz and Ryan replied.

"Hang on, granddaughter?" Ryan asked. He looked at Susan, who looked to be around Graham's age and then at the Doctor who looked to be in her thirties. "But... But you don't look old enough to be a grandma!"

"Ryan!" Graham and Yaz exclaimed, shocked. The Doctor, Susan and Idris simply responded with laughter.

"It's alright," Susan said. "It's the advantages of regeneration. Our physical ages don't match our biological ages. This isn't the first time that Grandmother has looked much younger than me, although she was Grandfather back then."

"Regeneration is when you die and then are reborn, right?" Graham asked.

"Exactly." The Doctor replied.

"The white-haired Scotsman!" Yaz exclaimed. "You said that you used to be one half an hour before we met you."

"Yep, that was my previous face." said the Doctor, nodding.

"How did you meet Grandmother?" Susan asked, curiously.

"She fell through the roof of a train," Yaz explained. "She built her sonic screwdriver in a warehouse, fought off an alien warrior called Tim Shaw, not his real name, and accidentally teleported us into deep space." Susan chuckled at the last one.

"So she accidentally kidnapped you?" she asked. Yaz nodded. "Well, at least that's better than intentionally kidnapped Ian and Barbara."

"That was _one _time!" The Doctor exclaimed. "And I haven't kidnapped anyone, intentionally or accidentally, since then!"

"What about unintentionally?" Idris asked.

"I didn't know that Sarah had snuck onboard my TARDIS!"

"It took you until the Middle Ages to realise that an investigative journalist had snuck onboard your ship," said Idris. Susan turned back to Graham, Yaz and Ryan.

"Please tell me she got you back to your home eventually," she said.

"Eventually, yes." Graham agreed, nodding. "Has she always not been able to fly the TARDIS?"

"Yes!" Susan exclaimed, laughing. Behind her, the Doctor frowned.

"Oi!" she exclaimed. "Once you lot have finished making fun of me..." Susan, Graham, Yaz and Ryan turned to her.

"But you can't fly the TARDIS!" Susan said. "I can fly the TARDIS better than you."

"You, Turlough, Romana and River are the only ones who can fly my ship better than the Doctor," Idris said, smiling. "Honestly, there's a reason why I just take the Doctor to where they needed to go."

"Ooh, I see you've also redecorated!" Susan said, looking more closely at the new TARDIS interior.

The new control room had non-connected hexagonal walls containing a cog-like pattern. There were also a few blue lights in walls as well as a hexagonal monitor. Instead of a normal monitor at the console, there was a blue holographic image on the side which displayed Gallifreyan.

The console itself didn't have a time rotor in the centre, instead having a giant orange crystal. Six other crystals were formed around the console. On the console were various levers and nobs in what she recognised as a steampunk style. There was even a tiny glass replica of the TARDIS on the console.

"Wow!" Susan gasped. "You've outdone yourself this time, old girl!"

"Why, thank you, Susan," said Idris, coming to stand next to her. "I'm glad you like it."

"_Anyway_." Susan turned to see her grandmother looking at her with her hands on her hips. "Susan. What did you do this time?" Susan's smile went away and was replaced with a nervous expression.

"I...might need to stay with you for a while," she said.

"Of course you can. You don't even need to ask." said the Doctor. "Whatever's wrong, I'll fix it."

"I doubt you can fix this, Grandmother."

"I'm the Doctor. I fix things."

"You don't even know what it is." Susan pointed out. "How can you fix something if you don't know what it is?"

"I'll fix it." The Doctor replied. "Susan. What happened?"

"I...might have accidentally...and in self-defence...burnt down London with my mind," Susan replied.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor, Graham, Yaz, Ryan and Idris stared at her. The Doctor and Idris shrugged.

"Ok." said the Doctor. Susan, Graham, Yaz and Ryan all looked at her in confusion.

"Wait, what?" They all asked.

"You're not angry at me?" asked Susan.

"Of course not. Susan, you could take over the entire universe and I would still forgive you." replied the Doctor. "Besides, me telling you off for this would be extremely hypocritical."

"Why?" Susan asked, suspiciously.

"I might have caused the first Great Fire of London."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Susan.

"I persuaded Emperor Nero to burn down Rome."

"That doesn't surprise me either."

"I destroyed Gallifrey to end the Time War until I changed my timeline so that it survived." Susan stared at her.

"You...destroyed Gallifrey?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I made sure that I got you off of Gallifrey before I destroyed it." said the Doctor.

"Of course," said Susan. If there was one thing that she could be sure of, it was that the Doctor would do anything to protect her.

"You know how the War was. I didn't have any other options. The only way to end it was to use the Moment, which no one wanted to use as it was sentient. No one was keen on using a weapon that could judge you."

"No one except you," said Susan.

"Except me." The Doctor agreed. "But then I changed my timeline so that Gallifrey survived and was in a pocket dimension at the end of the universe."

"So Gallifrey's still around?"

"It is, but I'd rather not go back there anytime soon." said the Doctor. "The last time I was there, things didn't end well." Susan put her hands on her hips.

"Grandmother, what did you do?"

"Nothing! It was the High Council." The Doctor replied. "They orchestrated the death of my friend Clara then trapped me in a confessional dial and tortured me for four and a half billion years!" The Doctor clenched her fists as she remembered the experience. "I escaped onto Gallifrey and...exiled Rassilon and the rest of the High Council, shot the General, causing him to regenerate, and extracted Clara from her timestream before she died." Susan raised her eyebrows in shock as she realised just how irresponsible the Doctor had gotten since they had last met.

"What..." she said, completely lost for words. "Ok, first of all. You exiled _Rassilon_?"

"Yes."

"Rassilon. As in, one of the founders of Gallifrey Rassilon?"

"He was being a dick!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"You're right, and only you would have the guts to exile Rassilon." Susan agreed. "And second of all, you extracted Clara from her timestream before her death? Isn't that _exactly_ what I told you not to do with Lucie?"

"...Yes, it is." The Doctor admitted. Susan put her head in her hand.

"I thought I made it clear to you then that you can't break the laws of time?" she asked.

"That hasn't stopped him from rebooting the universe," Idris said. Susan stared at her then at the Doctor.

"You...what...?" She was in shock. "_What have you been up to, Grandmother_?"

"A lot." replied the Doctor. Susan sighed.

"Am I the only sensible one in this family?" she asked.

"Yes." The Doctor and Idris replied.

"That's comforting." Susan looked at Graham, Yaz and Ryan. "Is she like this with you as well?" They stared back at her.

"Um...not exactly," Yaz said. "If you mean the Doctor being irresponsible, she planted some bombs into Tim Shaw."

"She also made the Kerblam robots explode which killed the guy who was sabotaging the company," Graham added.

"She sent a Dalek which was attached to my deadbeat dad into a supernova," Ryan added.

"Right. Ok," said Susan. "Aside from the fact that Grandmother doesn't do well with neglectful fathers or even being a good grandparent herself, I also tend to set things on fire. As well as what happened out there." She gestured to the door. "We were stuck in a cave of skulls and my escape plan was to put skulls on sticks and set them on fire."

"Did it work?" Yaz asked.

"Yes, it did," Susan replied.

Wicked!" Ryan exclaimed, grinning. Susan grinned back.

"Please don't give him any ideas," said Graham.

"Ryan's already shown that's he's willing to touch an unknown alien object." The Doctor reminded him. "As are you."

"When have I ever done that?" he asked.

"The mirror in Norway," she said. "You touched that." He put up his hands in defeat.

"Ok, ok," he said. "So we're all just as bad as each other."

"Except Susan just burnt down an entire city with her mind," Idris said.

"Yes," Yaz said. "How did that happen, exactly?"

"Gallifreyans are naturally telepathic," Susan explained. "Mine is much stronger than most Gallifreyans. I was exposed as an alien and started being hunted by Earth United, a xenophobic political group. They cornered me, I was scared, then something inside my mind snapped. The soldiers spontaneously combusted and the city started to burn."

A knock on the door prevented anyone from responding to her.

Everyone turned to the door. The Doctor and Susan looked at each other, both worried.

"I'll deal with them." said the Doctor.

"Grandmother. They don't know that I'm your granddaughter."

"Don't worry." The Doctor replied. "Stay here." Susan, Graham, Yaz and Ryan stayed to the side of the console while Idris stood in front of it. The Doctor went over to the door and opened it. "Can I help you?" she asked, unfazed by the group of soldiers outside pointing guns at the TARDIS.

Earth United. It was all she could do to restrain herself from killing them for what they had put Susan through.

"I'm Captain Charles Weber." The lead soldier said. "We're looking for Susan Campbell. We have reason to believe that she's here."

"Nope." The Doctor said, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed but blocking his view of the interior. "No one here by that name."

"You are the Doctor, is that right?"

"Yes, I'm the Doctor. No, she's not here. No, you can't come in and search my TARDIS." _Even if you did come in, the TARDIS would automatically disable your guns. _

"Mrs Campbell is a known associate of yours," he said. "It is only natural that she would come here for safety."

"Even if she was here, which she's not, do you think I'd just hand her over to you?" asked the Doctor.

"We won't ask again, Doctor," said Weber. "We know she's in there. Hand over Susan Campbell and we will be on our way."

"No." He pointed his gun at her.

"Stand aside."

"No," she said. She closed the door, ran up to the console and started to activate the controls. "Ok, we're getting out of here. If we stay here any longer, either Susan, Idris or I are going to end up killing them."

"No kidding," Susan muttered. The Doctor tried to take off but nothing happened.

"Idris?" she asked.

"That's not me," replied Idris. "Something else is interfering with my controls." She fiddled with the controls. "It's some kind of...anti-artron energy device. As long as it's active, we're stuck here." Susan crossed her arms.

"How did Earth United get their hands on that?" she asked. "They don't even know what species I am and it's not as if Grandmother comes to visit that often."

"I don't know," replied Idris. She looked at the Doctor. "What do you say, Doctor? Go and investigate?"

"Absolutely!" The Doctor exclaimed. She turned to Susan, Graham, Yaz and Ryan. "You four are staying here!"

"Grandmother," said Susan. "Please be careful."

"Don't worry, Susan." said the Doctor, cupping her granddaughter's face in her hands. "I'll be fine. Idris will keep an eye on me." The Doctor and Idris walked over to the door and the Doctor opened it. "Captain Weber." She smiled, unable to resist saying it. "Take us to your leader."

* * *

Weber and his men drove the Doctor and Idris to Earth United headquarters. The two of them sat opposite each other, looking at the other in a way that unnerved the soldiers.

_Are you ok, Doctor?_ asked Idris.

_Do you think I'm ok, Idris?_ The Doctor asked. _Susan is in danger! It's a good thing you're here otherwise I would do my own thing._

_I know._ replied Idris. _It's not a coincidence that when you've gone too far you haven't had someone with you_.

* * *

Susan paced back and forth in the TARDIS. This wasn't the first time that the Doctor had told her to stay in the TARDIS but this was because of something that Susan had caused, and she knew that her grandmother would do anything to protect her.

"Susan," Graham said. "I'm sure that the Doc will be fine."

"I'm aware of that, Graham," replied Susan. "But Grandmother is quite overprotective of me, especially when I'm in trouble." She stopped pacing and turned to him, smiling. "Doc?"

"Yeah, that's what I call her," he said.

"Oh, she's changed. Grandfather wouldn't let anyone call him Doc."

"She briefly explained regeneration when we first met," said Graham. "She said that all of the cells in her body were changing and it was quite painful."

"It's the Gallifreyans' way of cheating death," replied Susan, nodding. "You can age naturally as I have and Grandfather did when we left Gallifrey. But Grandfather's regenerated fourteen times. The limit is thirteen faces, but the Time Lords do have the option of giving you a second regeneration cycle, as they've done with him. This is the first time that Grandmother has been a grandmother, but she still acts the same. Protective, irresponsible. She means well. Just make sure that she doesn't go too far, which, from what I've heard, you've experienced." Graham, Yaz and Ryan nodded. "So, what about you? What do you do when you're not travelling with Grandmother?"

"I'm a junior police officer with Hallamshire Police," said Yaz. "I live with my parents and my sister."

"I'm a retired bus driver now looking after Ryan," said Graham.

"I'm working in a warehouse trying to earn enough money while studying for my NVQ so I can become a mechanic," said Ryan. "I'm living with my granddad, Graham."

"We finally have a police officer in the TARDIS!" Susan exclaimed, excitedly. "And another grandparent and grandchild travelling in the TARDIS!" It was evident that she was her grandmother's granddaughter, with the excitement and the grin on her face. "Tell me about the other adventures you've been on!"

Graham, Yaz and Ryan immediately started talking about Desolation, Rosa Parks, the spiders in Sheffield, the Pting, the Punjab, Kerblam!, King James I, Norway, Ranskoor Av Kolos and the Dalek on New Year's Day.

Susan, in turn, spoke about the adventures that she and the Doctor had been on after leaving Gallifrey, although she ignored Graham's query as to why they left. She also spoke about the Death Zone, the other Doctors and companions that she had met, her life on Earth and the second Dalek invasion.

Susan got on well with the three humans. She discussed with Yaz and Ryan the racism that they had faced and took great delight in exchanging tactics on how to deal with racists. She and Graham discussed David, Alex and Grace, and Susan understood he had wanted to kill Tim Shaw. She had felt the same rage towards the Daleks for killing Alex and the Time War had been a good excuse for her to let out that rage.

Graham curiously asked about the Time War but she stayed silent. He, Yaz and Ryan guessed that Gallifrey and the Time War were sensitive subjects for the Doctor and Susan.

Their conversation was interrupted by something beeping on the console. Susan went to see what it was and the way that she was examining the controls reminded the other three of the Doctor.

"Oh, look," said Susan. "Grandmother got herself into trouble. What a surprise." She looked up at the others. "We need to go and help her."

"Isn't Idris with her, though?" Yaz asked.

"She can be just as temperamental," replied Susan. The TARDIS beeped in annoyance. "What? You are." 

"The Doc told us to stay in the TARDIS," Graham said.

"I know. Which is why we're taking the TARDIS." said Susan.

"We're going to take the TARDIS right into the middle of an anti-alien organisation who want to kill you?" he asked.

"Yes." Graham looked at her in surprise.

"I'd say that that's the worst possible idea, but you are related to the Doc." She shrugged.

"Gallifreyans aren't exactly known for being rational," said Susan. "If we're going to go to Earth United, then we'll need weapons."

"The Doctor doesn't like guns," Ryan said.

"I'm not Grandmother," Susan said, pulling out a box that had suddenly appeared underneath the console and opening it. "And if she says anything about the guns then you can tell her that I gave them to you."


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor and Idris arrived at Earth United. They ignored the guns that were being pointed at them. The Doctor had a reputation throughout the universe and took advantage of it. She walked into the building like she owned the place, which was ironic given its purpose. Idris watched her and rolled her eyes. Weber told them to follow him and he led them through the building, presumably up to the head office.

The Doctor and Idris always wondered why bad guys decided to take their prisoners through their headquarters in full view of everything. The two of them, being much smarter than everyone else there, memorised every route, exit and position of the guards as they walked. Eventually, they exited the lift at the top of the building and headed towards a door at the end of the corridor. The door sign read ARTHUR CAIN. Weber knocked on the door and then headed in.

"Sir," he said. "This is the Doctor." Behind the desk, a tall, white-haired man stood up. 

"Oh, yeah." said the Doctor. "You look evil." Idris chuckled.

"You're the Doctor?" Cain asked.

"Yep, that's me!" she replied. "Oh, you're thinking that I look different? Regeneration. It's part of the Time Lords' skillset. I've regenerated seven times since I was last here. And let me tell you, all of my other selves, from the very beginning, would be appalled at how you're treating Susan Campbell! Just because she's an alien doesn't mean she's done anything wrong. I mean, the Daleks, fair enough. They're assholes and deserve to be killed. But Susan? She's just trying to live her life normally. So what if she's an alien? You as a human can't measure up to what she can do." Idris cleared her throat. "Ok, that doesn't help." She stepped forward. "The point is, Susan Campbell is under _my _protection! If you want her, you'll have to go through me!" Cain walked around the desk and stood face-to-face with the Doctor. She glared up at him. 

"I assume you know what Mrs Campbell has done, Doctor?" he asked.

"It's hard not to know," she replied. "She did that in self-defence. If you lot just left her alone, nothing would have happened."

"I guess I would've expected another alien to defend her," said Cain.

"What the Doctor is trying to say," Idris said, moving next to the Doctor, also glaring up at him. "Is that Susan is an alien being hunted by an anti-alien organisation. Of course she would want to defend herself. She's sensible not to do it too often as she knows that that wouldn't help her case. It was instinct."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Idris," she said. "I am also an alien."

"Idris. Are you saying that Mrs Campbell burnt down London out of instinct?"

"It was an accident," she said. "I know you don't believe me and I know there's no way that you would be willing to listen to Susan. Think of all of the wars that have been fought in Earth's history. If you were being hunted by the enemy you would want to defend yourself, wouldn't you?" She looked around at the soldiers in the office. "Of course you would. You're soldiers. All you do is kill." She looked back at Cain and was pleased to see that, despite him towering over her and the Doctor, he was starting to get a little shifty underneath both of their gazes.

"Listen." said the Doctor. "We're both aliens and so is Susan. You're a human running an anti-alien organisation. I know that there's no way that we could agree about you lot leaving Susan alone, so let's compromise."

_Uh oh. _Idris thought, seeing where this was going. The Doctor held her arms out.

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm over two thousand years old. I fought in the Last Great Time War. I helped stop the first Dalek invasion of Earth. I've lived longer, seen more, loved more and lost more." she said. "You want an alien prisoner? You've got one right here! But first." She grinned. "You'll have to catch me."

Idris sent out a wave of strong psychic energy, temporarily disabling all of the humans in the room and she and the Doctor ran out.

* * *

The TARDIS landed in a corner of the Earth United headquarters. Susan checked the screen to see if there were any soldiers outside. When she saw that there weren't, she led Graham, Yaz and Ryan out with her gun drawn. The other three held their guns close.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be right inside the enemy base?" Graham asked.

"Probably not, but it's the easiest option," said Susan. "Besides, no one's going to try and steal the TARDIS. There are very few people I know who can fly her."

They walked along the corridors, Susan and Graham keeping Yaz and Ryan close to them. Susan was telepathically scanning the corridors for danger. Suddenly, she stopped.

"Susan?" Ryan asked.

"Someone's coming," she said. She opened a nearby door, having already checked it for danger, and they went inside. They listened behind the closed door as the person moved around outside before they stopped outside the room.

"I know you're in there." A male voice said. Graham, Yaz and Ryan gasped.

"Do you know who it is?" asked Susan.

"Krasko," said Yaz.

* * *

Elsewhere in the building, the Doctor and Idris were making their way towards the exit and dealing with any soldiers that they came across. Their telepathy picked up the psychic signatures of Susan, Graham, Yaz and Ryan and someone else who they hadn't sensed in a while.

"Wait, is that who I think it is?" The Doctor asked.

"Krasko?" replied Idris. "Yes, it is."

"Why didn't you tell me he was here?"

"If I tell you what's going to happen, it's going to happen."

"It can't be a coincidence, Krasko being in the same time period and working for the same anti-alien organisation that's trying to kill her." said the Doctor. "He's here because of me, I know it. He somehow knows about Susan. The only people who knew were Ian, Barbara, the Brigadier, presumably Kate and UNIT, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Turlough, Lucie, the Master, the Monk and River."

"Doctor," said Idris. "You've got that look on your face again."

"What look?"

"The 'I'm-going-to-kill-someone' look. We both know how protective you are of Susan." Idris said. "She can look after herself. Let's just focus on finding them." The Doctor sighed.

"Ok," she said.

* * *

"Krasko?" Susan asked. "The racist space thug from 1955?"

"That's him," Ryan replied, nodding. "I thought I zapped him back in time from 1955. How is he here in the 23rd century?"

"You said that Grandmother destroyed all of his equipment?" she asked. He nodded. "Perhaps he had spares, I don't know."

"What are we going to do?" asked Yaz. "It doesn't seem like he's moving away from here."

"Then I'll go and talk to him," said Susan.

"Wait!" Graham, Yaz and Ryan whispered, as she opened the door.

"Krasko, I believe," said Susan, looking at the man on front of her. He looked like James Dean in _Rebel Without a Cause_, but with a black leather jacket instead of red. She could tell straight away that he was trouble.

"That's me," he said, smirking. "Susan Campbell, isn't it? The Doctor's granddaughter."

"Yes," she said. "How do you know about me?"

" There are other parties in the universe who know about you," replied Krasko.

"Is that how you ended up in the 23rd century?" she asked. "You got zapped back in time from 1955 even though Grandmother destroyed all of your equipment."

"Get the hell away from my granddaughter!"

The Doctor came running up and stood in between Susan and Krasko. Krasko smirked, making everyone want to punch him in the face.

"Hello, Doctor," he said. The Doctor punched him in the face.

"What are you doing here, Krasko?" she asked, blocking him from her granddaughter as Idris protected Graham, Yaz and Ryan.

"Why do you think I'm here?" he asked. He and the Doctor stared at each other in silence until Susan said what they were thinking.

"You're here because of me," she said.

"Yes," he replied, nodding. He looked at the Doctor. "What better way to get revenge on you than going after your family?" Susan held her grandmother back.

"Who told you about Susan?" The Doctor demanded, angrily. She knew that he couldn't have gotten the information from Ian, Barbara, the Brigadier, Kate, UNIT, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Turlough, Lucie, the Master or River. The Monk perhaps, but she doubted that he would be foolish enough to cross her after their last encounter. Krasko simply smiled and Susan physically moved in between them, shielding the Doctor with her body. "Krasko! _Who told you about Susan_?"

"Grandmother..." Susan said, desperately trying to calm her down.

"Why should I tell you?" asked Krasko.

"You think that going after my granddaughter is a good way to get revenge on me?" asked the Doctor. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that you do _not_ put the people _I care about_ in danger! Have you heard of Demon's Run? My friend was kidnapped and held captive there. I took Demon's Run without a drop of blood spilt."

"I heard that you were still tricked there," said Krasko.

"That's not the point!" she exclaimed, simultaneously wondering how he knew about that and trying not to think about it. "If you threaten my friends, I will go all out to save them! If you threaten Earth or the universe, I will blow up a thousand ships to save it! But the one thing that you _never ever_ do is _threaten_ my _granddaughter_! _Do you understand_?" All of them were aware that they were being surrounded by soldiers, including Weber and Cain.

"You and your granddaughter are in the middle of an organisation dedicated to protecting the human race against alien invaders," he said. "Do you really think that you can fight them?"

"Yes." The Doctor and Susan answered.

"Only three of us are aliens," said Susan, gesturing to herself, the Doctor and Idris. The three of them went through various solutions in their minds, all of which involved fighting. It was clear that the only way out was through violence as there was no way that talking was going to help them. Krasko and the soldiers suddenly clutched their heads and yelled out in pain as they collapsed to the ground, still conscious but paralysed by the pain. "Oh, did I mention? I'm a very powerful telepath."

"We need to get back to the TARDIS," said the Doctor.

"Good idea, Doc." Graham agreed. "I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Same here," said Ryan.

"So would I," said Yaz.

"The TARDIS is the safest place for us right now." agreed Idris.

"I second that," said Susan.

"Come along, fam." said the Doctor.


	5. Chapter 5

After they had run a fair distance from Earth United, the Doctor stopped and hugged Susan in relief.

"Susan!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Are you ok?"

"Of course I'm ok, Grandmother," replied Susan, hugging her back. "Are you ok?"

"Of course I am." The Doctor replied. "I'm the Queen of OK!" Idris cleared her throat. "Ok, that's still a rubbish title. Forget I said that." She pulled back out of the hug and looked at them. "I thought I told you to stay in the TARDIS?"

"You did, but you didn't say anything about flying the TARDIS here." Susan pointed out.

"Good point." agreed the Doctor, then she narrowed her eyes. "Hang on, are you taking advantage of the fact that I can't be mad at you for more than five seconds?"

"Yes, I am, Grandmother," replied Susan, smiling. "Whatever gave you that impression?"

"One, you found a, rather obvious, loophole in me telling you to stay in the TARDIS and two, you gave Graham, Yaz and Ryan _guns_."

"I was wondering how long it would take you to notice that."

"Of course I noticed it. I notice everything."

"Uh, Doc? Susan?" Graham asked. They looked up and heard the faint sound of soldiers' boots running in the distance.

"Susan." said the Doctor. "Anything else you can do with your advanced telepathy other than setting things and people on fire?"

"I can fry people's brains," said Susan.

"Woah!" Ryan exclaimed, excitedly. "Can you melt people's brains?" Susan thought for a moment.

"Probably," she said. "I haven't tried it."

"But you've fried people's brains before?" he asked, curiously.

"Only once before," replied Susan. She looked at the Doctor. "The Master."

"You telepathically fried the Master's brain?" asked the Doctor. "When was this? Neither of you told me about this. What happened?"

"It was after the Death Zone," explained Susan. "I was helping to keep Earth safe from the Dalek artefacts left behind after we defeated them. I received word that someone was tampering with a superweapon. I went to investigate and found out that he killed David." The Doctor frowned. "The Master captured me, to use as a hostage against you I believe. He took me to Tersurus and I revealed to him that I was also Gallifreyan. I connected myself to his TARDIS' telepathic circuits and sent all of my emotions deep into his mind. All of my rage, my grief, my loss, my fury over David's murder, my anguish about you, promises broken, the horror of the Daleks being resurrected. I sent it all into his mind, frying it. Somehow, he was still conscious after it. I got feedback from his mind and was... horrified at what he was thinking. He felt that he could do whatever he wished, he had no concern for any living creature. The only thing that mattered to him was himself. I didn't feel any regret about what I had done. He realised that I was your granddaughter and said that he would use me to get revenge on you. So I forced him out of his TARDIS, then used his TCE to destroy the equipment that was on him which triggered an explosion. I thought he was dead, so I took his TARDIS and left Tersurus."

The Doctor brought her into a hug.

"I didn't know," she said. "The next time I see the Master or Missy, I'm having words with them about that." She looked at Susan. "Susan, I was also there. I was looking for a friend of mine and detected your telepathic distress call. I decided to trace the call back to before its source so I could prevent you from sending it out in the first place. However, I also found out that the Master was involved, the version that my third self often fought, and was seeking to claim abandoned Dalek equipment. I was able to thwart his plan but he escaped, killing David and using you as a hostage. Once I realised where his TARDIS had landed, I knew what was happening." She smiled. "He survived that explosion. I met him again on Gallifrey as my fourth self. But, Susan, you hit him so hard that he was heavily decayed and got to the end of his regeneration cycle. He had to take over the body of Nyssa's father which was the version that you met in the Death Zone." Susan stared at her in surprise.

"I did _that_ to him?" she asked. The Doctor nodded, grinning proudly. "Wow. That also explains why I didn't recognise him in the Death Zone. It wasn't a normal Time Lord regeneration.

"No, it wasn't. My third self also didn't recognise him there."

"So, from my point of view that encounter took place after the Death Zone," said Susan. "But from his point of view, it took place before the Death Zone."

"Time travel!" Yaz and Ryan exclaimed, holding their hands up in a dramatic way. The Doctor, Susan, Graham and Idris looked at them, Graham and Idris being the only ones who understood the reference.

"Professor Hulk from _Avengers: Endgame_," Ryan explained. "It seemed like a good thing to say at some point."

"Sorry to interrupt this emotional moment," said Graham. "But I think those soldiers are getting closer."

"You're right," said Susan. "Grandmother, let me deal with this. This is my fight."

"Sure." The Doctor replied. "But I will intervene if I feel it's necessary."

"I know."

Krasko, Weber, Cain and seemingly every single soldier from Earth United rounded the corner and pointed their guns at them. Susan walked forwards and the Doctor and Idris stayed in front of Graham, Yaz and Ryan.

"I'm only going to say this once," Susan told them. "Stay away from the Doctor and her friends. I'm your enemy here. Fight me and only me." Krasko, Weber and Cain walked up to her. Even though they towered over her, she still managed to show how angry she was with them and the rest of Earth United. "Is that supposed to intimidate me? Because it's not working."

"What species are you, Mrs Campbell?" Cain asked.

"You still don't know after all this time?" she asked. Cain and Weber looked at her blankly. "I'm surprised Krasko hasn't told you." Krasko shrugged. "Fine. If you must know... I'm from Gallifrey." There was a moment of silence.

"Gallifrey?" asked Weber. "The same planet as the Doctor?"

"No, another planet with the same name," replied Susan. "Yes, the same planet as the Doctor." She paused and decided, what the hell. "Or as I know her, Grandmother."

"Grandmother?" Cain repeated, looking from Susan to the Doctor. "But..."

"She doesn't look old enough to be a grandmother," replied Susan. "Regeneration. One of the many abilities of a Gallifreyan. Another ability we have is telepathy. I happen to be the strongest telepath on Gallifrey, which is why I accidentally burnt down London. My telepathy developed into pyrokinesis." The guns aimed at her. "Really? I just told you that I can set things on fire with my mind. You've seen what happens when I do that. Are the guns really necessary?"

"Yes," Cain replied.

"I would suggest putting them away, otherwise Grandmother is going to intervene," said Susan. She saw that they weren't going to back down. "Ok, then. Are you sure you want to fight me?"

"Yes," he repeated.

Behind her, the Doctor and Idris watched with interest. A thug who was in Stormcage for killing 2,000 people and the leader and head soldier of an anti-alien organisation versus a Gallifreyan who was the granddaughter of the Doctor, a well-known freedom fighter in this century of Earth and had telepathic abilities stronger than most Gallifreyans as well as the ability to set things on fire.

There was no question as to who was going to be the winner.

Cain and Weber stood back and let Krasko do the fighting. Susan started by simply sending a very strong wave of telepathic energy into Krasko's mind, making him clutch his head in pain. He used the distraction to try and trip her up but she skilfully dodged his feet.

Krasko got to his feet and pulled his gun out. Susan ducked out of the way as he fired a bullet then she grabbed his gun and pulled it out of his hands, shooting at him until the gun ran out of bullets. He stumbled backwards and looked down at the blood coming out of the bullet wounds in his skin. The Doctor and Idris moved forward next to Susan as the group of soldiers did the same, but Susan stopped the two of them.

"It's ok," she said. "I'm fine. I can handle this." The Doctor and Idris looked at each other then back at Susan. She looked back at them and telepathically sent them what she was thinking and feeling. The Doctor and Idris nodded and moved back next to Graham, Yaz and Ryan but prepared themselves to intervene if necessary. Susan turned back to the Earth United soldiers who had all pointed their guns at her. "What did I say about the guns?"

"Fire!" Weber called. Susan held up her hand and froze the bullets in midair. She raised her eyebrow at their confused looks.

"I _just_ told you that I'm from Gallifrey," she said. "Our whole thing is time."

"So, you can fry people's brains, set things on fire and freeze time?" The Doctor asked. "Good to know." All of them groaned as Krasko got to his feet.

"Are you kidding me?" Susan asked. "How are you still standing after I shot you twenty times?"

"You think I survived Stormcage without a plan to do so?" he asked, smirking. Susan glared at him angrily and stepped towards him but she was held back by the Doctor and Idris. "River Song certainly did." Either side of Susan, the Doctor and Idris tensed.

"How do you know about River Song?" Idris asked.

"Who in Stormcage doesn't know about River Song?" he replied. He tilted his head. "It's an interesting relationship that you have with her, Doctor. First, she kills you and then you marry her."

"What?" asked Susan, turning to her grandmother. "You're married again?"

"The only two marriages that mean something are your grandmother and River." said the Doctor, before turning to Krasko. "River and I are complicated. I'll explain later."

Graham, Yaz and Ryan fired their guns at Earth United to draw their attention away from the Doctor and Susan. Idris provided them with extra protection whilst she fought off the soldiers with ease.

The Doctor and Susan stood side by side as the soldiers ran towards them. Susan held out her hands and caused a fire in the space between the two of them and the soldiers. However, Krasko had somehow got around the fire and came towards them. The Doctor stood in front of Susan and punched Krasko in the face before grabbing him by the throat and strangling him as he did with her the last time they had met.

"Whoever sent you here, go back and remind them what happens when you threaten someone I care about!" she exclaimed.

She let go of him and he fell to the ground, coughing and trying to get his breath back. He pushed up his sleeve and revealed a new vortex manipulator, of course he had one, pressed some buttons and disappeared.

"Grandmother, are you sure that it's a good idea to just let him go like that?" asked Susan.

"Unlike my past selves, I'm trying not to kill anyone." said the Doctor. "Yes, I know that it would cause problems in the future as they would come and try to get revenge on me, but at least I don't have more deaths on my consciousness." Susan nodded.

"Meanwhile, we've got the others to deal with," she said. The Doctor turned and saw that the fire was starting to die down and the soldiers moved forward. She smiled and turned to Susan.

"Just like old times. Grandfather and granddaughter bonding time fighting bad guys," she said. Susan smiled back.

"It's more like grandmother and granddaughter bonding time. But yes, just like old times," she replied.

The Doctor and Susan stood back to back and started fighting the soldiers. There were forty in total; they must have called out every single soldier they had just for the two Time Ladies. They took on twenty each.

Susan was combining her telepathic and pyrokinetic abilities, causing the soldiers to start spontaneously combusting. She grabbed as many of their guns as she could carry and was firing off bullets and lasers at the soldiers.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was punching as many soldiers as she could. As she had stated to them many times, threatening her granddaughter was a no-no. She then grabbed a laser gun and took a move out of River's book, spinning around in a circle and shooting as many of the soldiers she could.

The two of them only focused on keeping the other safe, forgetting about the soldiers until all of them were either unconscious or dead. They looked around at the bodies lying on the floor then looked at each other.

"Feel better?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes," replied Susan. "Do you?"

"Yes." replied the Doctor.

They looked round to see Graham, Yaz and Ryan looking at the defeated soldiers in shock. The Doctor, Susan and Idris just shrugged.

"Ok," said Yaz. "That happened."

"Yes, it did." The Doctor replied. "Now, one more thing." She walked over to Cain and Weber. "This is a warning. If you come after Susan or _any_ of us again, this is what will happen! Understand?"

"Of course, Doctor," Cain replied, nodding. "Mrs Campbell." Susan nodded back.

"Come on, team!" The Doctor called, turning and walking off. "Let's get out of here."


	6. Chapter 6

Once back in the TARDIS, Idris got to work getting her ship out of Earth United and back nearby the riverbank. The Doctor walked over to where Susan was standing to the edge of the console.

"Hi." The Doctor said, smiling. Susan looked up at her.

"Hi," she replied. At the other end of the console, Idris, Graham, Yaz and Ryan were deliberately giving them some space.

"So, I know that every other time we've been in this situation the goodbyes haven't exactly been good." said the Doctor. "The first time, I abandoned you. The other two times, I wanted you to come with me, rather selfishly, and you decided not to. I want you to have your own choice this time with no input from me."

"Can I stay with you?" Susan asked. The Doctor could tell that she had been thinking about this. "David and Alex are gone, I've been hunted by Earth United and caused London to burn down. Everyone I know either is dead or hates me because of who and what I am. There's nothing left for me here. You're the only one I have left who's always around." The Doctor grinned.

"Of course you can stay! You don't even need to ask," she said. "Your room is still here. Neither Idris or I could bring ourselves to get rid of it." Susan smiled.

"Thank you, Grandmother."

"You're welcome, Arkytior."

"It's been a long time since you've called me that," said Susan.

"It's long overdue, as is this conversation." The Doctor replied. She bounded over to the others. "Everyone! Susan is staying with us!"

"So, am I babysitting another one or...?" Graham asked, jokingly.

"No, Grandmother's the one who needs babysitting," Susan replied, smiling. The Doctor gave a mock offended look before turning back to the console, making Susan, Graham, Yaz and Ryan laugh.

"Susan, do you want to do it together?" The Doctor asked, grinning. Susan grinned back. Together they pulled the lever, making the TARDIS fly off into the vortex.

Just like the old days. The Doctor and Susan, travelling through time and space.

* * *

Krasko teleported into his ship, in orbit around Earth. He detected the signature of the TARDIS taking off. He turned on the computer and the image of a woman with short dark hair and dressed in a black suit appeared on the screen.

"It worked," he told her. "The Doctor came for her granddaughter." The woman nodded.

"_I told you it would work_," she replied. "_Continue interfering with history, Krasko. You'll run into the Doctor again at some point._" Krasko nodded and the woman ended the call. He started to plan his next move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next episode: Shadows of Sheffield
> 
> On a visit to Sheffield, the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, Ryan and Susan investigate a string of recent disappearances.


End file.
